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CBN Grants National Operating Licences to Opay, Moniepoint, Others

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has upgraded the operating licences of leading financial technology firms and microfinance banks, including Opay and Moniepoint, granting them national status and authorising them to operate across the country.

The regulatory upgrade follows the firms’ compliance with stipulated requirements and reflects their rapid expansion beyond regional boundaries. Beneficiaries of the approval include Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, Opay, Kuda Bank, PalmPay and Paga, all of which have leveraged mobile technology and extensive agent networks to scale their services nationwide.

Confirming the development in Lagos, the Director of the CBN’s Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department, Mr Yemi Solaja, said the affected institutions had effectively been operating at a national level prior to the formal upgrade.

“Institutions like Moniepoint MFB, Opay, Kuda Bank and others have now been upgraded. In practice, their operations are already nationwide,” Solaja said at the annual conference of the Committee of Heads of Banks’ Operations.

He stressed the need for physical offices to enhance customer support and dispute resolution, noting that a large proportion of the firms’ clientele operate within the informal sector. According to him, customers must have clear and accessible points of contact when challenges arise.

With the national licences, the fintech firms will now be subject to higher regulatory standards, including increased capital requirements—such as the ₦5 billion minimum capital threshold for national microfinance banks—as well as mandatory offices for handling customer complaints.

The development aligns with the CBN’s broader push to deepen financial inclusion while strengthening oversight of the fast-growing digital finance ecosystem. It also follows recent enforcement actions by the apex bank, including fines imposed in 2024 on Moniepoint and Opay over breaches of Know-Your-Customer (KYC) regulations, underscoring the regulator’s resolve to uphold compliance and operational standards in the sector.

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